Bradley Books

I tried very hard to enjoy this book after happily reading many of the author's works set in 19th Century wars. The problem is that I am a 'detail oriented' person that has read extensively about U.S. WWII armor and weapons. I found myself wishing the author had spent just a little time researching U.S. Army organization and equipment of the period. His gross errors kept me from "staying in the story". I have hesitated to buy the second novel in the series because I shudder to think of the errors that might be in a work on the European Campaign.

This is a great book for the average person who wouldn't know a Sherman tank from a Stuart. If you know nothing about armor piercing versus high explosive shells; this one is for you. This book has its place in literature because the author makes history entertaining and may motivate the huge numbers of readers, who were taught to hate "History" in school, to learn more. In that it does a great service. Shaara is a great writer but should do more research on the details if he wants to write more works on WWII. One reviewer mentioned W.E.B. Griffith. Like Shaara, Griffith committed some pretty gross errors on equipment. I still liked his books and I will read more of Shaara.

I will take the time to correct one of Shaara's statments. He implies a scandal that U.S. troops couldn't get Sherman Tanks because those vehicles had been given to the British. Consequently, the U.S. troops had only Stuart 'light' tanks. That is a total falsehood! The British did get priority on Sherman production prior to U.S. entry into the war. One of the U.S. Armored Divisions that landed in North Africa was partially equipped with M3 'Lee' medium tanks due to the shortage of Shermans. The Lee had the same gun as the Sherman but not in a turret. There was no 'scandal'. All U.S. 'medium' tank companies were equipped with 'medium' tanks.

I will leave it there as I could fill pages with the other errors. I felt it was a disservice to Truth to let a totally false and baseless 'scandal' stand.

As in the succeeding book the introduction - which should be historically accurate - contains numerous mistakes the least one being where the author calls Rommel a Bavarian (I do hope that no Swabian reads the book because he surely would blow his top). The novel itself is impressive as it seems to describe the combat situations very realistically. The characters descriptions sometimes seem to be overdrawn and exaggerated.

As a reader of historical fiction and a WWII buff I really wanted to like this book. I have plowed through about two-thirds of it and just given up, as much as I wanted to like it I just can't take the time to go on.

For me, this book fails on several levels. Shaara tries to tell the "big picture" and "small picture" stories by switching points of view between historical and fictional protagonists, but the brief vingnettes with the fictional characters left me unable to know or care much about them.

The historical characters are poorly rendererd cardbord cutouts. I realized part way through that the dialogue attributed to each man is indistinguishable in vocabulary, diction, and tone from each other. There is no sense of Eisenhower's optimism, Patton's fire, Rommel's leadership or Marshall's gravitas. All of them, in the book, speak in contemporay (and I mean currrent contemporary) slang. I realize that general officers sometimes address each other by first name in private, but I don't believe ANYONE ever addressed Marshall as "George"...and Marshall addressed Eisenhower as "Eisenhower" and never as "Ike" as Shaara has him doing.

By the way, there is an author's warning about the language in the book. It's limited to everybody saying "damnned" a whole damnned lot - from George Marshall (who seldom, if ever, used any sort of profanity) to George Patton (who was famous for his foul tounge, and was a much more creative cusser then using one mild expletive continuously).

The research seems to be correct in the large but superficial. The author refers to equpment (armored trucks) that did not exist in the U.S. Army inventory in 1942, and there are numerous small factual errors - for example American tanks are referred to as "more compact" then German ones - when in fact the high profile of US armor was a disadvantage compared to German armor.

In short, if you know anything about WWII history already, you will not enjoy the book because of the inaccurate characterization of historical figures that you already know and numerous niggling factual errors. If you aren't knowlegeable about WWII history, you will get tired of the cookie-cutter characters and won't care much about the fictional ones.

The story of a green U.S. Army facing the veteran German army and losing it's first battle (Kasserine Pass) and then recovering to win victory after victory over the nazis is a great one. It deserves better than this novel. Your time and money would be better spent with history - like Stephen Ambrose, Cornelius Ryan or Charles B. Macdonald to name a few.

Jeff Shaara delivers another historic fiction masterpiece in "The Rising Tide". In his preface to the book, he writes "What could I possibly add that hasn't already been written about so many times before? ... My goal is to find a few voices, and to tell their story through their eyes, to put you the same room with some of the most important and fascinating characters in our history." He continues "My goal here is to offer you a good story. I hope you find it so." After completing this book, I feel that he certainly succeeded.

The book begins with a quick introduction to the strategic environment leading to the rise of the nationalist socialist (Nazi) regime in Germany. Along with the rise of the Nazi party comes the political ambition of expanding Germany's borders and restoring prestige lost at the conclusion of World War I. With the strategic stage set, Shaara provides a brief biographical sketch of two main characters - Dwight Eisenhower and Erwin Rommel. From here, the reader departs on the fictionalized conversations of the people who set forth in motion the allies first counterthrust to the Wehrmacht juggernaut.

Shaara is the master of weaving the tactical, operational, and strategic viewpoints of the same events. He begins the story by relating the experiences of a British tank crew facing the onslaught of the Afrikakorps Panzers. Contrasting this perspective, he provides the reader with the conversations on strategy between General Rommel and his staff.

You share the thrill of the Afrikakorps Soldaten as they shred the predictable defenses of the British in Libya. You feel the anguish as Winston Churchill relieves the British Commander Auchinlech and replaces him with the flamboyant Bernard Montgomery. Montgomery relieves Auchinlech in time to prepare the British defenses at the Egyptian town of El Alamein. The flow of story travels with British army as they chase the Desert Fox across Libya.

The American characters are introduced as Shaara discusses the Allied planning to bring the battle to the Germans. Shaara accurately portrays the debates between British and American strategists between opening the "second" front in France, or in North Africa. With the debate settled, the next order of business was the selection of the command structure for the invasion of North Africa. Again, Shaara captures the nuances of the decisions to appoint an American as the overall commander with British officers as the component commanders.

No book on the American operations in North Africa would be complete without a discussion on the generals who made the operation a success. Readers gain an appreciation for the meteoric rise of stars like Omar Bradley, George Patton and Jim Gavin, to the firing of Fredendall who was responsible for the American debacle at Kasserine.

Shaara's story supports Clausewitzian adage of "warfare is a continuation of politics by other means." Shaara introduces the reader to Robert Murphy, the American State Department diplomat who worked behind the scenes to neuter the possibility of Vichy French resistance to the American invasions.

After the German surrender in Tunisia, the book continues with Operation Husky, the liberation of Sicily. While telling the story of the race to Messina, readers are introduced to the infamous Patton slapping incident. With Sicily secured, the invasion of Italy proper can begin. At this point, Eisenhower and a large portion of the American forces move to England in preparation for the invasion of France.

Shaara's story of these historic events is absolutely spell-binding. He masterfully wove the stories of men like Sgt Jesse Adams, a paratrooper from the 82d Airborne, with the tales of the key decision makers who put him in harm's way. Shaara also showed no preference for the side of the conflict. His fictional conversations were factually accurate and told the stories both the Axis and Allied warriors. This book will be a page-turner for the World War II history fan!

Admittedly, I'm not familiar with Jeff Shaara's work outside of the movie "Gods & Generals," the sequel to the movie ("Gettysburg") inspired by his father's own historical fiction, "The Killer Angels." While I was not as impressed with the movie's take on history, I was led to the conclusion that aside from the title, much of the book is left out of the film. That being the case, and since I am an avid WWII history buff, I decided to give "The Rising Tide" a chance. How very glad I am that I did!

If you're looking for spoilers, you might consider reading another review, as I do not like to ruin anything for anyone. However, if you know your WWII history, especially in those early years of US ground operations in North Africa and Sicily, then you likely already know many of the outcomes, subplots and personalities. Instead, let me address the book itself, rather than the content.

What I most enjoyed was the fair portrayal given to both the Allied forces and the German army. In particular, we follow the careers of Eisenhower, Patton, Rommel and Kesselring through the North Africa and Sicily campaigns. Instead of merely villifying the Germans as all Nazi collaborators, we see a more sympathetic figure, full of brilliance and energy, but also flaws and setbacks. The same can be said of the Allied forces. Rather than merely glorify their wonderous deeds, we also explore the human aspects of the men in charge, their own shortcomings, fears, worries and personal struggles. It humanizes these icons in a way that is attainable to any reader, puts them on a level almost equal to our own.

What I next liked was the in-depth struggles of the soliders in the field. Instead of the omniscient voice constantly dictating the action on the battlegrounds, we see the side of the army from the lowest level, a private with a tank, and a sergeant with a 'stick' of paratroopers. In both cases, the war is brought home to a human level, to our own experiences and history. We identify with these men, and we share in their anxieties, fears, joys and confusion. The surreal nature of the conflict is only broadened by these more intimate experiences, and we can plunge ourselves deeper into the history because of it.

Bear in mind, the third-person-omniscient is present, and at times, we are handed the inner thoughts of generals and enlisted men. Sometimes, the action is moved forward, with a recapping of the interlude given to us by the narrator. Still, the pace is quick, the action is enveloping, the language is not too cerebral, but it also is not dumbed down for simplicity's sake. On the whole, this work by Jeff Shaara is very readable, hard to put down, and engrossing for any fan of historical fiction, WWII, war stories in general, or even the occasional generic fiction lover. It is a work of fiction, this much is true, but its sources are real-life persona, men who had fought in the sands and rocks. I do not believe the fiction goes much further than to supply the actual conversations that we know took place, just perhaps not the actual words. The battles, the people, though, are drawn straight from the pages of history.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are turned off by war stories, or if WWII is not your fancy, then you might not get as much enjoyment out of it as someone else who is a fan. I would still recommend it, though, as history is always worth revisiting, especially if it demonstrates the best and worst aspects of human nature. (We could always use a little reminder of what should and should not be repeated throughout our lives). If you are a WWII buff, though, I suggest you add this first book of a planned triology to your collection right away!

Sadly, after reading Mists and The Forest House, I found this installment a disappointment. There seemed to be less "new material" in the book: the 3 sections simply wore down the same story of main characters, and their reincarnations did the same things as the characters in the previous sections.

And the concept of reincarnation between the generations of the Romano-Britannic lands was not a new and fresh idea in this book. That idea had come as a surprise in prequel The Mists of Avalon, but was nothing new here. There was a lack of creativity in saying the virtually exact same story for 3 parts of the book with different people, because by then, characters' histories were not enticing by introducing the idea that they had once been sacrificed kings or wise men from Atlantis in another life. It became repetitive.

And yes, the book does link other of MZB's works together. However, the scarcely lighted-upon stories in the other books that were told here were much better in my imagination than in the book.

In contrast, there are still fans of this book who found that it was not all that bad. I encourage possible readers to go ahead and read it, but only after the other books, and with the dissatisfied readers' comments warning you that this is one of the more pathetic continuations of Bradley's otherwise illustrious saga.

Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley picks up where The Forest House ended. Avalon has been established under the leadership of high priestess Caillean in the shadow of the holy Tor and close to the Christian brotherhood at Inis Witrin. The first book follows Eilan's son Gawen and his contribution to Avalon, the second establishes Avalon's active role in the politics and future of Britannia, and the third focuses on characters familiar to Arthurians--Vortigern, Vortimer, Viviane, and Taliesin and the Merlin of Britain.

Although the mythology and history are rich, the material is squandered in these nearly plotless, barely connected stories. While Avalon tries to preserve the degenerated wisdom that remained when Atlantis sank into the ocean, the world is being torn apart by the oppression and instability of empire and waves of barbarian invasions. Caillean, Gawen, and the daughter of the fairy queen, Sianna, save Avalon, then their successors extend its influence outward to manipulate kings, princes, and military leaders. In spite of the sacrifices and losses, Britannia seems no better off; Rome clings to it, and the barbarians keep coming. There are important victories, but they seem contrived when the goddess is called on to frighten off the Saxons, and they do little more than provide a break in the onslaught. The plots are so minimal and the useless details so many that it's not clear to what extent Britannia's rebelliousness and vulnerability contributed to Rome's decline and fall.

The goddess religion of Avalon is murky at best. Unlike in The Mists of Avalon and The Forest House, the magic here is unquestionably real; the visions are not drug-induced hallucinations, and priestesses invoke the goddess to deter the enemy. The "ancient wisdom" seems to be centered on the power of the earth (focused along leys), the seasons, and reincarnated souls like Gawen, Sianna, Dierna, and Carausius. Practice of the religion is as ordered and artificial as the rule of Rome, with strict rules and elaborate rituals that owe more to the human predilection for control than to the concept of nature and the earth. Even the most natural of emotions and acts, love and non-ritual sex, are forbidden. Young men and women are drawn to Avalon, but their passion is poorly articulated, especially when they cannot know the mysteries revealed during training and initiation. There is nothing special about the character or intelligence of the many of the Druids and priestesses called to Avalon; why are they singled out to preserve the ancient wisdom and mysteries?

While the plots and the secondary characters are weak, the real problem is that so many of the primary characters are selfish and unlikable. Gawen, the "Pendragon" and "Son of a Hundred Kings," from beginning to end is unremarkable, displaying predictable rebelliousness and nobility at the expected moments. He is so susceptible to suggestion that "the priest's words had tainted the Druid ways as well." Dramatically and childishly, he exclaims, "You both want to possess me, but my soul is my own! . . . I am leaving to seek my kin of Rome!" His soul mate, Sianna, has no more personality than Waterwalker, whose role is to pole the Avalon barge. High priestess Dierna does not seek the obvious path, proving the fairy queen's point: "But I do not know what the purpose is, exactly, and if I did, I would not be allowed to speak of it; for it is often in working for or in avoiding a prophecy that people do the very things they should not." We are told that Teleri, who is weak, pliant, and passive, is destined to become high priestess of Avalon; why would the goddess, the Druids, and the priestesses choose someone so unsuitable for such a position? At her worst, high priestess Ana is egotistical and petty, especially with regard to her daughter, Viviane. Is it Ana or the goddess who says, "I would gain nothing. I already have everything."? For reasons that are never explained, the enigmatic fairy queen insists that her daughter become a priestess of Avalon, and it is her line whose members impose their will on events rather than that of the goddess, proving their human side stronger than their role as conductor of magic. Of all the major characters, only Caillean, Taliesin, and perhaps Carausius are likable, revealing both human weaknesses and a greater wisdom. Although it is strongly hinted that Carausius is a reincarnation of Gawen's soul, they are different enough that it raises the question of what these souls are and why only certain ones return again and again, while others are "once born." The whims of the god and goddess, as channeled through these souls and through the Druids and priestesses, appear to be as illogical as those of any human.

Without a solid plot driven by strong, sympathetic characters, Lady of Avalon lacks the touches of historical and magical drama that made The Forest House at least interesting. Although the novel reveals some of the reasons for the decline of Avalon and the goddess religion, Lady of Avalon adds little essential to The Mists of Avalon.

Great writer, great subject, carries you along. I didn't want it to end, I wanted to know more...Well written, Great Story - Timeless Fantasy!

Lady of Avalon is a great read. It is 3 stories tied into one.
Starting with Caileen and working towards Viviane. My only disapoinment
was there was not more background on Vivianne. However what is told explains why she is the way she is.

As many have said this was not one of the better works in the Avalon series.

However the three novellas, while in themselves do not give you much time to become attached to the characters each has its own purpose within the series.

For instance the fist section follows Caillean's journey to found Avalon after leaving the Forest House, and to create the world that still captivates readers 20 or so years after Mists was originally published.

The second section ties in to the sequel Priestess of Avalon, which encompasses the entirety of is written in the novella about Dierna.

Lastly the third section recounts the early life of Vivane. So although Lady may not be the best out of the series is it is still an essential part of the collection.

This is Marion Zimmer Bradley's best book in my opinion. The story isn't as tedious and lenghthy as Mists of Avalon or any of the Forest House books. I love how the main character is Kasandra, who is usually left out of stories of Troy. One of my favorite books by far!

As always Mrs. Bradley never lets me down. I love this story. I love Kassandra's point of view. I want to believe that the Fall of Troy happened just like that. Loved it. Amazing story.

Hecuba, Queen of Troy, dreams that she's given birth to a firebrand whose spreading flames will destroy her city. Not long afterward, she gives birth to twins Paris and Kassandra. Because he considers his wife's dream an evil omen, King Priam turns the infant Paris over to a shepherd who rears the boy as his own son. That's the familiar setup for Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel of Kassandra's life - but the Iliad retold on its own terms this book is not, because this story's Hecuba was born and raised an Amazon. When Kassandra's gift of the Sight incurs Priam's wrath, Hecuba sends the young girl - just on the verge of womanhood - to live with her sister, Amazon Queen Pensithelia, for a time. Kassandra loves that wild, free existence, and learns a warrior's skills. She's initiated as a priestess of the Mother Goddess once revered by all humans in that part of the world, but now largely supplanted by the Sky Gods (Zeus, Apollo, etc.). For the rest of Kassandra's life, her early childhood call to serve as Apollo's priestess will war with this later initiation into the Goddess's mysteries; because Apollo, like the other Sky Gods, represents a universe where men reign and women live in "divinely ordained" submission.

Returning to Troy to resume her life as a princess, Kassandra meets her twin brother at last. The royal family reclaims Paris, despite the evil omen that caused his father to banish him soon after his birth, and the visions of Troy's destruction that have plagued Kassandra from early childhood begin their march toward real life fulfillment.

In a way this tale is just as much a Greek tragedy as the Iliad, because it's a story of flawed heroes who bring their own destinies down on themselves. Retelling it through Kassandra's eyes, though - with an understanding of the very real culture clash between the masculine gods of the Greeks, and the Great Mother they supplanted - makes for a fresh, exciting, and downright intriguing book. Although this is fiction, it's fiction written as actual women's history is written: a time and place we think we know quite well takes on a whole new meaning, when the story is retold from a usually silent (as far as the official record is concerned) gender's viewpoint.

A rushed ending is my one criticism of this otherwise fantastic tale.

Having enjoyed Mists of Avalon as a girl and then actually teaching it, it is easy to see that I am a big fan of the Mists of Avalon. I have also read other Bradley books, therefore I knew what to expect when I read this novel. Having read this novel right after Margaret George's Helen of Troy: A Novel, I was sadly disappointed. I must agree with other reviewers in that this particular novel is fiercely similar to Mists of Avalon, specifically in premise and characters, i.e. a young maiden of royal blood is placed with an aunt who schools her in the ways of earth and the goddess. She falls in love but that cannot be. She has a brother that is known to her but not to him until much later. The similarities just got to be too much for me and that simply ruined the book for me. As I stated before, in George's "Helen of Troy," Kassandra is a very minor character, but I just felt more involved in that novel.

I'm not a huge fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley, but the Trojan War is one of my favourite subjects, and I was curious to see how it could be told from a singular, feminine point of view - in this case, Princess Kassandra of Troy, tragically famous for her accurate predictions of doom that no one believed. "The Firebrand" is told with Bradley's trademark style; a strong feminist streak (that can become a little too heavy-handed at times), and her fresh spin on an ancient legend, a technique that brought Bradley into the public eye with her best known novel The Mists of Avalon.

"The Firebrand" follows the life of Kassandra of Troy from childhood to the fall of her city at the hands of the Akhaians, and the details of her life in-between, significantly her relationships with her family members and her struggles with her gift/curse of prophesy. Oddly enough, Bradley does not instigate the Trojan War into the story until nearly halfway through the book, filling the pages instead with Kassandra's growth into a young woman, her tutelage under the Amazon Penthesilea, various love affairs (of the wanted and unwanted variety) and the rituals of a priestess's life. Amongst all this, the war seems almost arbitrary, and several of the most important aspects (such as the deaths in the royal family) are glossed over with little to no emotional resonance. This may be disappointing to some, so be warned: "The Firebrand" is mainly interested in the life and times of Kassandra - even though the title directly refers to Paris, here portrayed as Kassandra's twin brother.

Kassandra is a well-drawn character, willful yet sensible, passionate yet contained, and in a clever twist Bradley makes it clear that it is not just her prophecies that make her somewhat of a pariah amongst her family, but her modernist streak as well. She certainly comes across as a woman living outside of her own time, and yet she never feels anything but entirely natural in her attitudes and relationships - even though some of these relationships are established early on in the text, only to be ignored later on. Other characters are less convincing than Kassandra, (such as Andromache, whose personality seems to change with each appearance), or ultimately inconsequential, such as Bradley's original characters Khryse and Chryseis, who are introduced only to serve no real purpose in the overarching plot.

Other times, the storytelling is often just plain sloppy: Kassandra periodically has visions of her brother Paris, but we are told at the end of chapter six that: "Paris was gone, this time beyond any recall at her command. She did not see him again for a long time." The following chapter picks up a few weeks later, in which Kassandra is once again engaged in watching her brother from afar.

As usual, Bradley's greatest weakness is her feminist streak, which can get so overwrought at times that it becomes an irritating strain on the credibility of the story's integrity. The key to any strong female protagonist is *not* to surround her with thuggish, block-headed caricatures of men, but to have her hold her own against men that are just as worthy of respect in their own right. Bradley clearly does not grasp this theory, as practically every male in the book is foolish, lecherous, arrogant or all three. Strengthening female characters by vilifying all the male ones, is in itself a weak way to portray convincing characters - not to mention robbing any sense of poignancy or emotion from the fates of Paris, Hector, Priam and Akhilles. The way Bradley writes it, we should be glad they all meet with tragedy.

Likewise, Kassandra (and though her Bradley) holds a hefty amount of distain to any woman who displays devotion to her spouse. From insisting that children belong to their mothers instead of their fathers (it seems to have escaped her notice that children could belong to *both* parents), mocking any woman who is content with being a wife and mother, and insinuating that the Trojan War would have never started had they all lived in a matriarchal society, Bradley pushes her feminist agenda so far that even this liberal female gender-studies student got tired of it.

This is unfortunately not my only grievance. What begins as an interesting insight in the gods and how they interact with mankind (beginning with the conception of Helen between Zeus and Leda) eventually becomes a muddled portrayal of gods and their influence over mankind. With Bradley attempting to rationalize some aspects of Greek legend, such as the Kentaurs and the snake-hair of Medusa, it seems odd that the gods would appear at all. However, at various points in the text, Kassandra communicates and witnesses various gods at work. Although Bradley opens up an interesting commentary on how the gods *might* work, their arbitrary appearances and her awkward insertion of a "goddess-mother" (who bears no resemblance to any god in the Greek pantheon) renders the portrayal confusing. Whatever her point was, it is lost in the contradictions and omissions in the text.

Although I enjoyed the character of Kassandra, and the unique twists that Bradley inserts into the original legend of Troy (such as an interesting portrayal of Odysseus and a different figure responsible for the death of Akhilles), there is something missing from this retelling: a clear sense of the context in which Kassandra's personal journey takes place. Although she remains consistent, the lack of interest in the war itself and the inconsistency in both the portrayal of the gods and those closest to Kassandra mean that the story feels...incomplete. It's almost like we've only seen a tiny portion of the experiences that shape who this woman really is. Despite several positive aspects, I'd recommend giving this Trojan retelling a miss and trying Goddess of Yesterday, another look at how a young woman is shaped by her experience both as a woman and a participant of the Trojan War.

This inane book serves the single purpose of stirring up the resentment and fear of the kind of sad guys who write in to Amazon to praise it. The distinction between equity and gender feminists is so dumb it sounds like something coined by David Brooks.

Hoff-Sommers expertly dismantles a vast amount of feminist disinformation such as the idea that one in four women will be rape victims at some point in their lives, that there is a vast epidemic of near-murderous man-on-woman spousal abuse or that girls are being systematically demoralized and ignored in school by showing us such things as how the original research contradicts their publicly-stated finding, demonstrating glaring methodological flaws and even finding cases where the "results" were pulled out of a location best left unmentioned in polite company.

More importantly, Hoff-Sommers shows what anyone who has paid serious attention to the feminist movement ought to know: Though the idea of gender equality is a genuine advancement based on a principled and logical adherence to enlightenment values, feminists themselves have little use for them and often resort to censorship and bullying to get their way. Alarmingly, feminists have taken control of the curriculum in many of our universities, the very place where enlightenment values are supposed to be the whole point. Happily, college students being what they are, the damage seems to be limited mostly to their own good name. Gender equality itself seems to be moving along just fine despite feminism's help.

Although feminists are understandably unpopular with mainstream Americans, they have gotten a free pass from many on the left who confuse them (and quite often themselves) with genuine supporters of liberal values. As the Amanda Marcottes of the world are showing, the movement hasn't exactly improved with age which is why "Who Stole Feminism?" remains an important antidote--at least as good as the negative reviews to be found here of the book.

I first read Ms. Hoff-Sommers book with some skepticism, after all I had never met the kinds of feminists she was accusing of hijacking feminism. But my opinion of the book changed when I went to Duke University and took a class on Feminism and Ecology and was attacked by the instructors because I am apparently a sell-out to patriarchy, simply because I happened to marry someone who works for an organization they were against.This is the play-book for gender difference feminists.
Ms. Hoff-Sommers points out in her book that gender difference feminists claim their "special natures," a reflection back to 19th century ideals of womanhood, as a reason for their determiniation to set up an us v. men world.
But the truth of the matter is that all people must learn to live cooperatively and equally in order to move toward a society where men and women can fully appreciate their differences, similarities and their collective strengths. Ultimately, equality does not mean everyone feels exactly the same on every issue, as gender difference feminists try to enforce. Rather, feminism is about educating women, allowing them to make their own decisions, even when we don't always agree with them. No one wins in an us v. them game, and that is what this book tries to point out.
You will have to deal with someangry rants in this book, but they are the passionate frustration of a woman trying desperately to remind women that our strength comes through unity, not through selling out groups of people who don't agree with everything we have to say.

When I read negative reviews of this book, I inevitably wondered if the critics actually read this scholarly work. Or do they really believe that things like re-writing history or trouncing on the First Amendment can be justified?

The author's experiences and analysis ring true with the irrational, postmodern, and pseudoscientific nonsense I have encounter in nursing academia from aggressive "gender feminists." Thirty years ago, 15% of nurses were male; today it's half that many. It may have something to do with academia's hostility towards men. One nurse academic even published a paper explaining why male nurses should never do nursing research because they could never understand this female profession. Argh.

The author makes a convincing argument that gender feminism is academically lazy, undisciplined, overbearing, and has no respect for science/reason. I hope in the years since this book was written that this destructive trend has waned.

Though I'm a progressive feminist and FAR from being a conservative or republican(but, god feminist is so 20th century), I found this book to be insightful as a counterbalance to the uber-extreme left views of feminist groups that are doing a disservice to other women by citing "data" with no real source or feeding misinformation to fuel women's ire. Especially like the points made re: NOW and its increasingly volatile focus on the issue of abortion rights rather than equality in pay and housing, help for single mothers, low-income mothers, etc.

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
As a WW11 veteran I enjoyed this book very much. I didn't want to put it down.

"Flyboys" is a surprisingly even-sided look at the war in the Pacific, which is most often seen as a manichaean struggle between Allied light and goodness versus Japanese savagery and darkness. The contuining thread of the book is the story of the Naval fliers who involved with the campaign against Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima's island neighbor. Using declassified data, trial transcripts and interviews, Bradley pieces together the story of eight fliers who were captured and mistreated by the Japanese. This is the campaign in which future president George H. W. Bush was shot down, coming perilously close to sharing the fate of the men who were captured.

But Bradley goes the extra nautical mile to provide needed context to this harrowing tale. Early on, we get a broad-stroked history of late 19th century US colonial aspirations, with an eye-opening portrayal of the way America flexed its muscle when it "opened" Japan via Commodore Perry's steel fleet -- an act not unlike a brutal deflowering. Bradley follows with a very harsh (if accurate) portrayal of US intentions and atrocities in the Phillipines, propelled by American greed, ambition and Teddy Roosevelt's racist, America-centric world view. Bradley suggests that it was this history that Japan emulated when expanding its own empire, only to be blocked by the pious tsk-tsking of the great Christian empires-- the US, Britain and France -- who had and were still following the same route when it suited them. Bradley gives us the story of Billy Mitchell, the military Cassandra who accurately forecast the need for developing air power for the next war. We learn about the brutal Japanese military culture, which drove its later attitudes toward American POWs. Bradley covers the Allied bombing of Japanese cities (conventional and nuclear) that destroyed the lives and homes of hundreds of thousands of civilians at the end of the war. He ends with the sometimes sordid and little-known aftermath of the Pacific war and the deal-making that kept some of Japan's worst war criminals out of prison and off the gallows.

Bradley's point (made over and over) is that brutality is in the eye of the beholder. Both sides saw themselves as morally superior to the other. Both were implicated in mass death and destruction. While not shying away from the fanatical bloodthirstiness of certain members of the Japanese army, Bradley attempts to show the humanity and moral conflict of at least some Japanese. By the end of this harrowing book, you will have experienced the war from many angles, and come to appreciate why so many Americans and Japanese former soldiers have become friends after the hostilities ended.

Great history told with a flair for the dramatic, the grotesque and the true.

James Bradley is a great author. He writes very directly and flowingly. The book reveals what actually had happened to the emen who had a special mission to fulfill in WWII. It reveals the heinous details as to what had happened to the men. The information was withheld from their families by the U.S. government in order to not make the families of the fallen men be devestated. Bradley gives rich details as to what happened to the men. His first few chapters cover how Japan had risen to become a formidable force in the world at the time prior to WWII. Such historical information is crucial and informative to the history buff. Bradley, as he has done in "Flags of Our Fathers," gives biographical information about each soldier, hence, keeping their existence in high regard and esteem. President George H. W. Bush's in the secret mission as a Navy pilot is also told in this fascinating book. Generally, he has revealed what was a classified and widely believed to be forgotten phenomenon as to the real truth about the men who were to carry out a secret and important mission at Chichi Jima. I reccommend this book to all Americans to read, espeically those who like to study and learn about World War II.

I first heard of James Bradley's "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" from someone who was in the process of reading it. As the person doing the recommending had not yet reached halfway point of the book, he emphasized the role of former President George Bush's flying in the Pacific and of his being shot down. This was a story about which I knew at least a little. Still, the reader was quite enthralled and strongly recommended that I read it.

I ordered my own copy thinking that the book dealt primarily with Bush's flying record. Once I started reading, however, that impression quickly proved to be an inaccurate. Flyboys delivers a disturbing but definitely worthwhile look into the horrors of war in the Pacific theater during the Second World War. Despite the fact that the book deals primarily with the barbaric treatment of several US airmen shot down and captured by the Japanese, it is certainly not an exercise in Japan-bashing. Bradley brings balance to the discussion of Japanese atrocities by mentioning similar--although, clearly, much less systematic--misbehavior on the part of US and allied soldiers.

You will be riveted by Bradley's telling of this story. You will also be moved. By the end of this book, exhausted, you'll learn a redeeming and terribly moving secret involving one of the Japanese captors.

John Cathcart
Author Delta 7

I listened to this unabridged book on audio. It was a long listen. The story loosely centers around a number of servicemen who were shot down over Chichi Jima (north of Iwo Jima) and their stories. One of those shot down was President George H. W. Bush (he obviously survived). However, these stories only take up about 30% of the book. The rest of the book focuses on the Pacific theater in World War II and the role of air power in defeating the Japanese. The history of Japanese-US relations and of military air power are also explored.

I found the book to be very interesting, even considering I listened to it for about 14 hours straight. The history and background are illuminating when considering the story of the flyboys and the larger war in the Pacific. I came away from the book with an increased appreciation and understanding on the need to use the atom bomb, the very different psychology of the Japanese, and of the incredible destruction Japan endured. It was a very good history lesson.

There are shortcomings. The book does spend a long time on tangents which can be distracting. It also gets a little grisly at parts. However, I believe most students of history will appreciate this book.

After reading some of the negative reviews about this book I feel I need to correct some of the misinterpretations of Dr. Bradley's book. First of all it is written specifically to the husbands to give them an understanding on how the birth process works and how they can be an active part in the preparation for and the act of childbirth; as a coach and as a companion to the mother. The language used is a bit dated, but the principals and concepts are unchanging.
This book teaches how a woman can prepare her mind and body for the natural process of delivering her child. Dr. Bradley cites his years and years of experience and an amazing success rate only to give you encouragement- to give you someone to relate to so that you can see how women over decades (and centuries for that matter) have worked with their bodies to avoid complications and have received an amazing and empowering experience in return, not to brag about himself as an OB.
I used the knowledge that I acquired from this book to deliver my first son after 4 hours of labor (dramatically shorter than the average first time mother I feel because I was prepared to deal with the different demands my body was placing on me at each stage)- with no medication. With my husband by my side encouraging and supporting me I knew I could do anything.
Dr. Bradley was a Pioneer of his day and has made it possible for thousands of women to have the birth experience they deserve. I would definitely recommend the Bradley Classes as a companion to your individual research. It provides a support group as well as a knowledgeable instructor who can answer more personal and direct questions then you could obtain from the text of a book.

I must admit, I had my doubts about my ability to sucessfully give birth naturally. But once I read this book and began attending the Bradley Birth Classes with my husband, my doubts disappeared. Everything made sense after that as I became educated and confident and prepared in the area of natural childbirth. In July, I delivered my first child without any medical interference, and everything went perfectly. I know we are blessed to have had the experience without complication, but we were prepared for that as well. The Bradley classes were especially good for helping you feel prepared for the complications that can, and many times do, occur. This book is a must for anyone who wants to take control of their experience as it relates to natural births and making medical decisions that are best for you and your baby!

In response to the other reviews, I'd like to say that this book was written to the husband of the woman having a baby, not to the woman herself. It's written by a man who has assisted hundreds (thousands?) of women during natural births to men who will be coaching, supporting and helping their wives through their own natural births. As a woman who has had two natural births and is anticipating her third in January, I read this before asking my husband to read it. Over and over I thought, "Oh, I'd love for my husband to think about that." or "It would be really helpful for my husband to know this." He then read it and found it very enlightening as to what is going on during the stages of birth, how I might be feeling, what I should be doing, and how he can help.

We bought this book because we did not learn about the Bradley method till I was 6 months pregnant and couldn't find a session that had openings and finished before the due date. We knew a lot about the method and were very interested in using it in the birth of our first baby. We expected that the book would give us more information on the principles of the Bradley method than it did. The book's basic motiv is just to convince you that nonmedicated natural childbirth is the best way. We already knew that; we just wanted some literature beyond lamaze to show us how to manage the pain more effectively. Don't waste the money on the book; try to sign up for the classes.

This book put into perspective the role of the husband/partner and how important that role is during the birth process. When we found out we were expecting our first baby my husband just thought I'd be doing all the work and he'd just be there in case I needed him but that I'd probably need the midwives more. After a Bradley Method Instructor gave the book to my husband he decided that he would jump in and be involved because this was just as much his birth experience too. This book not only gave us tools necessary to having a natural childbirth but made our bond even closer as a husband and wife. After having a drug free labor/birth without any intervention and having a 9 pound baby girl my husband is SO glad he read and implemented the principles of this book. The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth...Naturally, It Works!!!

Lucy Savage and Zack Warren are the main characters.

Einstein (sheepdog), Heisenberg ("walking mop"), and Maxwell (mutt) are Lucy's dogs. Wonderful characters, as only Ms. Crusie writes!

Lucy meets Zack when he mugs her after she lusts after him (a little bit) in a diner she and her sister (Tina) go to after Lucy's divorce from Bradley is finalized. Lucy beats Zack up with her purse filled with physics books for the high school science classes that she teaches, and gets away from him. She runs into the police, sends them after Zack, and goes home.

Zack isn't a mugger...he's a Detective in Property Crimes with the local police department. He tried to question Lucy about Bradley, as he is wanted for stealing a million dollars in bonds from the bank he worked for.

Zack and Lucy are immediately attracted to one another. Lucy is upset scandalized because she just got divorced. Zack is terrified because he doesn't want to die (which he equates responsibility and commitment with, and as precursors to). Zack knows that Lucy isn't a "good-time" girl, but one that you marry. Lucy knows that Zack is wonderful...but scared.

The secondary characters (Anthony, Zack's partner; Tina, Lucy's sister; Phoebe, the neighbor's psychopathic cat; and Pete, the new dog) add solid layers to the storyline.

I laughed aloud many times while reading this story. However, the BEST laugh came from the following scene:

"'...All the time,' the patrolman said. `I'll just have to call this in, sir...' he began, looking at Zack's ID, and then he, too, screamed.

`Shoot the cat,' Zack said. `It's assaulted two officers and resisted arrest. Do it."

In response to Phoebe's first attack on Zack. (Spoiler: Phoebe doesn't get shot...and lives to maim many another day.)

As with almost all of Ms. Crusie's books (the only ones I didn't LOVE were the two with Bob Mayer - "Don't Look Down" and "Agnes and the Hitman;" "Tell Me Lies," "Strange Bedpersons," and the short novella in "Santa Baby" (the latter, only because it was too short to do justice to a Crusie work); and the only one I couldn't even read "Manhunting"), the story was incredible, I have read, re-read, and will continue to re-read until the end of time.

"Getting Rid of Bradley" by Jennifer Crusie was my 22nd book this year. I've seen this name a million times and I swear I must be mildly dyslexic because I saw it as "Jennifer Cruise" forever. It wasn't until the other day after I was halfway through the book that I realized it was Crusie. (Unless it's Cruise and I'm just NOW experiencing a mild dyslexia.)

Lucy is getting rid of Bradley. She just divorced him for cheating on her. Though really I think she was looking for an excuse to get out of a loveless marriage. She finds herself attracted to a guy who definitely looks like a bad boy. And she thinks she's right when he mugs her in an alley. Only he doesn't mug her because she beats him over the head with her bag (which is filled with heavy physics books). Only later he shows up at her door. Because he's not a mugger. He's a cop and he was trying to protect her from being shot.

It seems our little Bradley might be in trouble with the law, and it seems Lucy might be in some danger. So the cop, Zack ends up moving in to protect her. Of course this isn't standard procedure but he's a little taken with her, and thinks she has no survival instinct and is clearly helpless without him.

Lucy has three dogs. One of them is this little mop-like dog that invented a joke. The dog invented a joke. And he tells it over and over and over. Basically anytime he has your attention, he rolls over onto his back and throws his feet up in the air. In order to make him stop you have to say: "Dead dog?" And then he rolls over and hops up like he thinks he fooled you.

Anyway it's a really cute book.

This is a reprint, but it is absolutely wonderful. My favorite Crusie book, and I read it again whenever I need a laugh.

Lucy Savage, like a lot of Crusie heroines, has decided to take control of her life, but so far it's not going well. Her husband Bradley stood her up in divorce court, the blonde dye job that was supposed to symbolize her independence turned out greenish, her sister keeps telling her what to do, and the sexy guy in the leather jacket turned out to be a mugger. At least she stood up for herself there--she beat him off with her physics book.

Except he wasn't really a mugger--he was a cop, and he'd knocked her down to keep her from being shot. Zack Warren's after an embezzler named Bradley, and when he overheard Lucy tell her sister she was going home to "get rid of Bradley" (throw out all his stuff), he put 2 & 2 together.

Now he's adding protecting Lucy to finding Bradley.

Getting Rid of Bradley is fast-moving and witty, with wonderful screwball-comedy dialogue and characters whose view of the world is just slightly skewed, but in their heads they're completely reasonable.

It just occurred to me that that's one thing I always enjoy about a Crusie novel--how clearly you can see the characters. Even when you're in their POV (point of view, not privately owned vehicle), you can see the contrast between how they see the world and how the world sees them--because everybody's a little off-center--it's part of being human.

And there's a dog--three of them, in this case, including Heisenberg, who does a "dog joke," and cracks me up completely.

I loved watching Lucy and Zack fall in love and merge their lives. You can see it happening, kind of like those clocks with clear cases so all the little gears are visible. There's no sudden about-face, no unmotivated actions, it's all right there on the page. I'm not explaining this well, I realize, but it makes perfect sense in my head. At any rate, it makes the book a joy to read, and re-read.

This one was not nearly as raunchy as some of the others I've read by her (notably, Welcome to Temptation) and was vastly more enjoyable. Though the characters were a bit unbelievable and there were a few aspects of the story that seemed a stretch, the overall plot was pretty straightforward, and she even included enough clues that you could, at times, be "ahead of" the characters. Plus, how can you dislike a main character that loves dogs that much?!?

I've bought three books in the end oh september and untill now (oct 28th) I didn't receive anything. It could be because I live in Brazil and the mail service is not to fast. I hope take it soon.

It is large and heavy but full of information and easy to fine that information which many guides books can't come close.
Lonely Planet, you do a good job.

the Lonely Planet guide to India is THE guide. Going to India with the Lonely Planet changed my life. It also tells you to leave the guide behind and follow your intuition. I did. The result was my new book, on how to travel with your intuition and change your life. Travelling Magically: How to Turn Your Journey into a Life-Changing Experience. Quite a few stories about my time in India there - I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

While I only ever purchase Lonely Plant books for my travels, this new edition had me a little disappointed with no inclusion of HiTech City as one of the sights to see. The city was truly amazing and I am thankful our driver thought to take us there.

I was one of those people who took lonely planet books everywhere, all over Europe, to Iceland, the Philippines, Cuba and now Delhi. I trusted the brand so it was the only book I brought, big mistake.
I'll only speak for Delhi because thats where I spent two weeks. So I hope this specifically helps travelers to Delhi.

The restaurants were pretty much awful, the hotel prices were wrong, the massage treatment place recommended so out of the way that it cost the cost of the massage to get there and back. I was working so I only wasted my weekends following the book. My work lunches were at far better restaurants and a aimless walk in the daytime in Old Delhi was far better than any guided tour. I also didn't appreciate the tone of this book and how much time it wasted on smug reviews and lame humor.
I think the individual country books depend really on the authors/editors, the other lonely planet guides I have were of great help. For India(or Delhi at least), try another title.

I purchased two of the series because its high ratings. Then when I went back and read the review again, I found an very interesting pattern. That is, all the reviewers who give 4's or 5's to the series are the same people. What is more, when you see their review history, you will find that they only have reviews for the series only. What a coincidence!

I am not implying the author or his company fake the rating. I am just pointing out the fact for yourself to decide. And I think amazon should definitively take action to investigate this kind of activities. I lose faith in amazon's rating system because of this incident.

A disappointed book lover

I am surprised at some of the negative reviews.

I have started over a dozen businesses over the past 26 years. This book is an excellent overview and help to business owners. If you're expecting one book to give you all the answers and then trash the book because it didn't, you're not dealing with reality.

If you're experienced in business this book will give you many helpful reminders to keep you on track.

If you're inexperienced in business this book is one of the best to give you an overview and starting point.

I haven't yet bought any of Brad's other books but I will be giving some of them a try soon.

Here's another disappointed reader who noticed that many of the 5 star reviews were made by those associated with the author. Don't believe me? If you google a bunch of the 5-star reviewer names, you'll easily find that they are business coaches at Action International, who worked with the author to publish this book.

Having said that, this book does indeed have some good ideas. However, one should always strive to succeed while acting ethically, and hire coaches who themselves will act ethically. The coaches at Action International have clearly demonstrated that they don't fall into that category.

The book is an easy read, but there's no substance, a few good points but nothing else.

Those who are giving this book 5 stars will be the very same franchised business coaches who benefit from the sale of the book. Do not be sucked in as the book is very weak. There is no instant success with this book.

As always, Bradly never writes junk, and i will continue to read her book over and over again

This is where the Avalon series books start! I've read the series almost completely backward over the years for lack of a good defined starting place. When I read The Fall of Atlantis all the pieces from MZB's other Avalon books click. Though I would have better titled this book, "Sisters" or a "Dream of Avalon," or some such... there isn't as much "Atlantis" description as I would have hoped. Had MZB written it today it may have taken on more detail. As it stands, it is the essential foundation for the Avalon books in the series.... The fall of Atlantis, Ancestors of Avalon, The Ravens of Avalon, The Forest House, The Priestess of Avalon, The Lady of Avalon, The Mysts of Avalon.... etc. Absolutely wonderful books to awaken the senses!

but not altogether unpleasent! MZB had me somwhat confused by her choice to enter phrases such as 'hell' and 'the devil' into a book that I had assumed was set in a pre-Christian time. Her choice of names for the characters also was a bit of a jumble. In each family parents would name their children some combination of the names of their father and mother. Until I was familiarized with the characters I had a bit of a hard time keeping track. The Fall of Atlantis was a fast read and I found it easy to sit down and read 150 pages without tiring of the book. If you want a story of Atlantis, this is not for you, Atlantis isn't a setting until the last 50 pages or so. However, if you're looking for a quick book with a unique community setting and somewhat unusual characters, give Atlantis a try.

This book is very important in the Mists of Avalon series, in that it starts everything. This book starts the tale of characters that incarnate through all the other books. The story given here immediately picks up again in the sequal "Ancestors of Avalon."

I found this original story to be very interesting, spiritual, and having the feeling of history--even though it's about a supposedly fictional place. It is clear that this is one of MZB's earlier works, but it is still enchanting.

I wish MZB could have kept her original titles for what she saw as a two part book, because the title "The Fall of Atlantis" is ill suited here. Most of the story doesn't even take place in Atlantis, but in a more ancient land. The part of the tale that does take place in Atlantis leaves the reader wanting more images and descriptions of this mysterious land. Also there is no "Falling" of Atlantis in this book, that doesn't happen until the next book "Ancestors of Avalon." The image on the front of the book is also misleading, as no scene even remotely like this occurs. I found it a bit of a distraction to the story to keep wondering when this scene of destruction and chaos would occur, only finding that it doesn't.

If you are at all interested in "The Mists of Avalon" series, this is a necessary start, just don't expect the destruction suggested by the cover.

from the back cover of the February 1987 Baen paperback edition
cover art by Alan Gutierrez
A wounded Atlantean prince...a deadly battle between Dark and Light...and the sisters Deoris and Domaris, whose lives are changed utterly by the magic involving them. These are the elements of "The Fall of Atlantis", Marion Zimmer Bradley's epic fantasy about that ancient and legendary realm.

On one side stand the Priests of the White Robe, guardians of powerful natural forces which could threaten the world if misused. Ranged against them are the Black Robes, sorcerers who secretly practice their dark arts in the labyrinthine caves beneath the very Temple of Light. Caught between are Domaris and Deoris, daughters of the Arch-priest Talannon, trapped in a web of deadly sorcery-the same forbidden sorcery that could bring about the fall of Atlantis.